Personal Case
by always-superwholocked-447
Summary: Katherine Beckett finds herself working on a case that she can't tell anyone about...including Castle. Is she willing to open herself up to him and break down all the walls?
1. Chapter 1

A sudden creak outside her bedroom door was woke her up. Katherine Beckett's eyes shot up towards the ceiling not daring to move. If it's one thing she learned during her time at the police force is that you should not be the move alarming the intruder—especially if he/she has a gun. She waited patiently lying at her bed straining to hear if the intruder had gone elsewhere. Then, she heard it. The sound of a fridge door opening was enough for her. She threw herself off her bed making sure to be silent and grabbed the gun that was in the drawer of her bed side table. She tipe toed out of her room and made a sharp turn to the right in the direction of her kitchen. Surely it wasn't a mistake that someone had walked up three flights of stairs and broke in to her apartment at two in the morning. The sun gave a smallest reflection of light through the windows, but even then, it was hard to see. She steadied her gun with both her hands and crept up behind the man.

"NYPD! Put your hands up!" she shouted.

The man slowly put his hands up to his ear with the muzzle of the gun pointed towards the ceiling. Beckett walked over to the light switch and turned it on, not leaving her eyes off the man.

"Eyes where I can see you," Beckett said.

The man turned around. "So we meet again Kate Beckett," he said giving her a wink.

Beckett lowered her gun and her eyes widened in disbelief. "TaShawn?"

TaShawn took a seat on the nearest couch and placed his legs on the coffee table.

"Get your legs off," Beckett said sternly.

He gave her a tiny smile, "I see you still keeping in shape. For me?"

Beckett rustled her hair and sighed. "What are you doing here?"

TaShawn's face got serious and he fell silent for a minute. "One of my men. He's been missing for over a month."

"Why don't you go to the police then, instead of breaking in? I could charge you for trespassing you know."

"You know exactly why I can't go to the police And I also know you won't arrest me."

"And why is that?"

"Because we've known each other for a long time and I wouldn't have come to you if I really didn't need your help."

Beckett nodded. "You got a name?"

"Tyrone White."

"What do you think happened to him?"

"I don't know man. Last time I saw him was a month ago. Look, he was fine then. He told me he had to run an errand. I figured he was going to get high off something. You know, like he always does."

"So I have nothing to go on? I find it hard to believe that nobody wanted to harm him."

"Well we do have a lot of enemies."

"What makes you think somebody from another gang didn't just kill him for revenge?

"Even if somebody wanted us killed, they wouldn't go for him. They'll go for him. It would violate the code. Anybody with beef from another gang can only go for the leader, me."

'Why should I help you? I'm a cop. "

TaShawn got up and tucked the gun in his pocket. He walked over to the window and cracked it open. "Because you owe me," he said turning around. With that, he jumped off.


	2. Chapter 2

Beckett twirled her hair between her fingers only moving to check her phone every couple of minutes. She didn't want to help TaShawn, but he was right. She owed him. She wanted to call Castle and ask him to help, but she knew he would have a whole bunch of questions. He would want to know everything and she wouldn't be ready yet-not yet. Still, she had no idea where to find this Tyrone guy with no leads. She couldn't check any of the police databases because Ryan and Esposito would be curious about why she was so interested about a random missing junkie. Her phone rang making Beckett snap out of her thoughts. She reached for her phone and hit '_Answer.' _

"Yo Beckett. We got a case. I called Castle already. Meet up at East Flatbush,11203," Esposito said.

"Alright, meet you there," Beckett said sighting. She ended the call and walked over to her bedroom to get dressed.

She got to the scene in 20 minutes and in the corner of her eye she sees Castle running to catch up to her.

"Your coffee," Castle said, still out of breath.

Beckett smiled. "Thanks."

Normally, she would start up a conversation with Castle about her weekend, but she was quiet this time. Castle was good at reading her and she didn't want him to know that anything was wrong. She could still remember when she hated having Castle around. Now he was like her second hand, always there to listen to her and help her out. Her heart panged when she realized that he wouldn't be with her to solve her own case.

"Hey Beckett…and Castle," Lanie said, her eyes pointing towards Castle.

Castle shared a smile with Beckett behind his cup.

"So, who is our lucky guy?" Castle said.

Beckett kneeled next to the victim.

Lanie ignored him and begin to discuss the analysis of the victim. "There was no I.D. with him or any type of money or credit card. I thought it was mugging gone wrong at first, but look, he died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Basing on the wound, I say the shooter was standing approximately 20 feet away from the victim when John Doe was shot. The bullet pierced straight through his heart. I found a shell case and by its size alone it is most likely a Kimber 1911 CDP II. Also, there are defensive wounds all over his arms and face. Someone was hitting him- hard before somebody decided it was time to end it fast. There is too much blood for me to tell if someone else's blood got on the floor, but I check at the morgue. I'll say whoever shot this man is no rookie. The gun used is definitely not a beginner's gun for muggers," Lanie said.

The elevator made a_ DING_ sound signaling to Beckett that they arrived in the 4th floor homicide division. Beckett walked out, but was stopped by Castle's arm.

"Hey, what's wrong? You haven't said anything thing since we left the crime scene. You can tell me about anything you know that," Castle said with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm alright Castle. I appreciate you worrying about me, but I'm fine. Nothing's wrong. Really," Beckett said. She gave him a small smile to try to reassure him, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Well, I'll be in the break room if you need anything," Castle said giving her one last look before he left.

Beckett breathed a sigh of relief. If Castle had continued asking anymore questions, she wasn't sure how she could answer them. She swung her coat on the back of her chair and sat down. When she saw Esposito and Ryan walk out of the elevator door holding a folder, she walked towards them.

"Yo. We got the victim's name. He is a Tyrone White-," Espo said being cut off by Beckett.

"Wait…what? Tyrone White?" Beckett said trying to hide the confusion and shock in her voice.

Espo opened the folder to check the name again. "Yeah. Tyrone White. He is a black male, living in a small apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and guess what? He in a gang and sells crack for a living. He's been charged for multiple felonies of drug possession. We should go now to see if we can find out what he's been up to the past few weeks and what got him killed."

"Do you know him? You got quite a reaction when you heard his name," Ryan said looking at Beckett.

"No, it's just I think I heard his name before, that's all," Beckett said.

Ryan nodded.

"CASTLE!" Espo shouted.

Castle came running out of the break room and threw on his coat. "So, Where do we go now?"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Sorry guys for not updating in a long time. I had a lot of things to do this week. I'm not sure if this chapter is going to turn out good or not. Any reviews or comments will be most appreciated. Thank you! **_

They finally arrived at the apartment of Tyron White.

"Stay behind me Castle," Beckett said.

The building was tall, but old and beat down. The stairs creaked beneath their weight almost as if the stairs would just break at any given moment. The hallways were hot and narrow only allowing one person to walk across at a time. When they got to the front door, Ryan carefully placed his ear next to the door trying to hear if there was anyone inside. He made sure it was quiet inside before he signaled to Beckett to open it. She took a step back and placed the gun in front of her. She pushed the door opened with her left leg not giving it a lot of strength. The impact of her high heels against the wooden door made a dent and the door finally gave way, letting the gust of wind from the hallway inside. Immediately they could smell the smell of old dinner and lunch from days ago. It was clear that no one been in the apartment for at least a couple of days. Beckett lowered her gun while feeling a little bit of OCD kicking in. Castle covered his nose trying to block out the vile smell. He refused to breathe in until he ran out into the hallway. Beckett could hear him wheezing outside, but she herself couldn't help but to avoid breathing in too deep.

"Check out all the rooms and see if you can find something important," Beckett said looking at Espo and Ryan. She half-ran and half- walked to a window to crack it open.

Ryan and Espo nodded and walked into separate rooms with their fingers still to their noses. Beckett rummaged through the piles and piles of paper hoping to find something useful to the case, but came up short. Everything was either about buying hookers or takeout food. She groaned and threw the yellowed paper back at the table. Espo and Ryan came out with nothing in their hands.

"We found nothing in the bedroom except for wads of rolled up cash which is pretty common for a drug dealer," Espo said.

"Alright. Let's call the rest of the squad for a full scan of this apartment. We might have missed something," Beckett said pulling out her phone and hitting speed dial for the precinct.

They meet Castle near the stairs. "Find anything?"

"Nope," Ryan said.

Castle nodded. "Thank god I wasn't in there. You guys look sick."

Back at the precinct, Beckett and Ryan were searching through traffic cams and nearby store cameras to see where Tyrone might have gone if he wasn't home for 4 days.

Beckett's phone rang and Lanie's face popped up at the screen. "Hi Lanie. Got anything?"

"Yeah. Come down to the morgue with Castle or whatever. You'll find this interesting," Lanie said.

"What did you find?" Beckett said looking at the mass amount of petri dishes.

"Tyrone White died at around 7-8 in the night. Also, you'll be happy to find out that I may have found our killer. I manage to pull out some skin underneath the nails and it wasn't Tyrone's. Also, while I was emptying out his stomach contents, I found pieces of chewed up paper."

"Well that's new. Our guy enjoys eating paper in his free time," Castle said laughing at his own joke.

"No. I mean the paper was not important, but what was on the paper was. The piece of paper was coated with a substance. I ran it under some tests and it turns out it was arsenic. Arsenic is very lethal in high doses. It seems the paper was in his body for over a day. Also he has been eating paper covered in this same poison consistently over time. " Lanie said.

"I read a book once that said that if you ingest the same poison, you body gets use to it and then it no longer has the same poisonous effect on you. Maybe that was what he was doing," Castle said. He raised his hand above his head and shrugged.

Lanie paused. "That could be true. Impressive Castle. Well it's up to you guys to find out why."

As soon as they got back, Espo and Ryan were already waiting for them.

"I found out where he last when. He was caught in a traffic cam walking with a man a couple days ago. They were having an argument and things got heated. We have already identified the man in the video. His name is Andre Rivers. We've got people bringing him in right now," Ryan said.

"Do you know what they were fighting about? " Beckett said.

"No the cars passing by them were too loud."

"I'll interrogate Mr. Rivers. Castle you watch," Beckett said.

She stepped into the room closing the door behind her. She placed the opened folder in front of Andre Rivers with the picture of Tyrone White on top. "Do you recognize who this man is?"

Andre leaned forward and shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even know why I'm here. I didn't do nothing wrong. "

"Are you aware that this man died last night?" Beckett said. She flipped to the painful picture of Tyrone with a gunshot wound to the head and showed it to Andre.

Andre shrugged again. "Like I said before, I don't know this man. I got nothing to do with him."

"Then would you care to explain why you were arguing with him? We caught you fighting with him two days ago on a video. You lied, you knew him. Did you kill him Mr. Rivers?" Beckett said looking at him with cold eyes.

Andre sighed. "I didn't kill him alright. Yeah we threw a few punches at each other, but I didn't even know him that well."

"Why were you two fighting?"

"He owed me money and he couldn't pay it back. So we fought. Pretty simple."

Beckett leaned forward attempting to intimidate him. "So you got angry at him. You followed him last night and when you got the chance you had your men beat him up and then you shot him in the head."

Andre smiled and leaned forward towards Beckett. "Look pretty girl. I didn't do nothing. I don't have to say anything either." He then slumped back into his chair, looked at the mirror and waved.

Beckett stepped out of the room rubbing her forehead with her hands. Inside she kind of hoped he was the killer so she could wipe that smile off his face.

"As much as I hate to say this, Andre Rivers didn't kill Tyrone. He was at the strip club last night the time the murder took place. He has plenty of witnesses that say he didn't leave until around 12 in the morning. He couldn't have killed Tyrone," Espo said.

Beckett nodded and turned around to face the murder board. She crossed out Andre's name. "Back at square one." Beckett's phone rang. She picked it up and hit _Answer_.

"Hello?"

A deep voice spoke, "Hello Beckett. I'll come around your apartment tonight. No surprises."

The person on the other end ended the call. Even though there was no caller I.D., Beckett already knew who he was-TaShawn.

"Who was it?" Castle said looking at the her phone.

"Nobody," Beckett said smiling at him. She slipped her phone in her coat pocket. "Let's call it a night guys. We'll pick up the case tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Sorry for not updating for a week. Spring break is coming up my teachers all decided to give us mid-terms. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Any reviews or comments will be appreciated. Thank you for reading!**_

_**NOTE: There is mild swearing in this chapter. **_

Beckett had almost forgotten about TaShawn. She had no idea how to explain to him that his friend was dead, especially if she couldn't say who did it either. She climbed up the stairs to her apartment and closed the door with her hip. She set down her bag of food and reached out for the light switch. She had no clue when TaShawn would come and she sure didn't want to be caught with food in her mouth when he did. After eating, she plopped down in front of the television and started flipping through channels. She stopped when she came through a re-run of _Bones_. She had grown to like that show and was almost excited for the next episode. She didn't realize how fast the time flew until she was finished watching the episode. She stretched out her arms and yawned. She looked at the clock at it was already 11'o clock.

"Missing me already?" a voice said from behind her.

Beckett jumped and snapped back to turn to the voice. "JESUS TASHAWN! Why were you so late? I was about to go to bed!"

"I could tell. So…what did you find out on the case? Normally it would be easy for me to find this information, but I decided to come over and here it from you. Did you find him yet?"

Beckett motioned over to her sofa. "Um. Yes we did find him, just he's dead."

TaShawn sat down with his fist to his mouth. "How-Who kill him?"

"We are still trying to find out. We had a suspect, but he was cleared. I'm sorry."

TaShawn got up from his seat and flipped the table over. The glass hit the floor and exploded. He got close to Beckett's face. "Whoever did this to Tyrone, I swear to god I am going to find them and fucking kill them."

"I know you want to get revenge, but this is not the right way to do it. You helped me once- hell you saved me and I'm not about to let you go to jail again. Listen, what you need to do is try to get information and the rest I will do. I promise you I am going to find him."

He kicked the already fallen table and made his way to the door. "Ay Beckett. Find the fucker who did this and tell him he's lucky I ain't there to blow his brains out." He slammed the door shut.

Beckett sighed. TaShawn wasn't the ideal New Yorker, but he was actually a good man, a good man who made the wrong choices growing up. She bent down to pick up the table and the broken glass. She had to help him. Not only because she had to, but because she knew Tyrone was probably a good man like TaShawn.

The next day she arrived at the precinct. "You got anything new?" she asked.

Ryan turned around. "No not yet. I'm looking through the traffic cams one more time to see where he went after the argument with Andre Rivers."

"Alright. Where's Castle?"

Ryan looked around. "In the…break room?"

Beckett smiled at the thought of Castle. "Thanks," she said to Ryan before walking towards the break room.

"Hey Castle!" Beckett said.

Castle handed her a cup of coffee while sipping on his own. "Hey."

Beckett took the coffee and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I should be asking you that. Yesterday you avoid me and then just leave."

"It's nothing. I promise. I had some things to discuss about with my dad."

"Then why couldn't you have told me that yesterday when I asked?"

"Because I didn't want to worry you."

Castle smiled. "You can tell me anything."

Beckett smiled at him. "Yeah. I know that."

Espo knocked on the door. "Yo. Apparently our bad guy has a good side. Someone saw him entering an apartment room. We checked who was renting it and guess what? It belongs to a Mrs. White, Tyrone White's mom. He was visiting her," Espo said.

"So he was on his way visiting his mother before getting into a fight about money? Maybe the money was for his mother. Get Ryan to do a background check on Tyrone's mother. Castle and I will go check out the apartment and ask her some questions," Beckett said.

* * *

Beckett knocked on the door. "NYPD. We have some questions to ask you about your son Tyrone White."

For 10 seconds there was no answer. Beckett was about to blast the door open, but a small old woman opened the door.

"Oh my the cops. Did my boy do something wrong again?" Mrs. White said taking Beckett's hand.

"Oh uh no. May we come in?" Beckett said glancing at Castle.

"Yes. Come right in." Mrs. White directed them to a small living room.

Beckett sat down first. "I'm sorry to say this, but your son is dead.

Mrs. White sighed. "I knew this day would come. My boy was a good boy until his father passé away. After Tom died, Tyrone would always get into trouble at school sometimes even get suspended. After his second year in high school, he dropped out and started staying out late at night doing God knows what. I was always so worried at him. But no matter what he did, I knew he loved me. He still visits me every week even now."

Beckett smiled at her. "I'm sorry to be fast at the questions, but do you know anyone who might have wanted to harm him."

Mrs. White laughed again. "I may be old, but I ain't stupid either. I know what Tyrone does and I'm sure he has a lot of enemies. As far as enemies that I know of, then no. He never told me any."

"I'm aware that he saw you three days ago. Did he seem nervous or anxious?"

"No. He was perfectly fine. In fact he even gave me a lot of money to buy food, but I didn't want it. I told him I was fine living the way I am right now."

Beckett paused. "That's all the questions we have for you Mrs. White. Thank you for your cooperation."

When they walked out of the apartment, Beckett called Ryan. "Hey how's it going on the background check?"

"Nothing came up so far. Everything seems normal to me," Ryan said.

"Hey. When Tyrone came up to see her mom, he offered her money. Why would Tyrone give his mom money if he was struggling himself?"

"I'll look into it," Ryan said.

Beckett waited with her phone still to her ears. She could hear Ryan typing away at his keyboard.

"Hm. On the same day Andre Rivers came up to him for money, money was deposited into Tyrone's bank account. A sum of 1 million dollars," Ryan said as he whistled at the sign of all the zeros.

"Alright. We're coming back," Beckett said.

They arrived at the precinct. Beckett walked over to her desk and sat down. Her phone rang and she looked down at it. There was no caller I.D. She rolled her eyes and looked around before picking up the call.

"I'm still at work you know," Beckett said keeping her voice down.

"What did you find?" TaShawn said through the phone.

"Nothi- Wait. Did you know Tyrone was struggling with money?" she said.

"Aren't we all?" TaShawn said laughing.

Beckett rolled her eyes again. "I'm serious TaShawn. Tyrone owed a large sum of money to Andre Rivers, but we checked his bank statements. 1 million dollars was deposited into his account the same day. What was he doing with all that money?"

"1 MILLION DOLLARS? Heck I don't even have that much money. That asshole could have shared some of that. Damn," TaShawn said. "I don't know how he got that money."

"Do you think he could have stolen it? Maybe stolen it from Andre Rivers? That could give Andre motive," Beckett said.

"Pfffff. No. Tyrone was a good kid. He couldn't have lived with himself if he did."

"Okay. I'll call you later. I've got more work to do."

"Ciao."

Beckett sat with her head thrown back on the chair motionless. She was so tired and she barely got any sleep last night.

"So, who's TaShawn?"

Beckett jumped up from her chair. "Castle!"


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thank you for all the people that continue to read this. You know who you are ;) It's only you guys that keep me motivated to write this. Yeah. Hope you enjoy reading this chapter. **_

"_So, who's TaShawn?"_

_Beckett jumped up from her chair. "Castle!"_

* * *

"Castle! Hi! Didn't see you there," Beckett said quickly pressing the END button and sliding the phone into her back pocket. She gave Castle the realest smile she could fake.

"Who's TaShawn?" Castle asked again looking at Beckett's hand.

"Nobody. Just a friend of Tyrone. He wanted to help with the case," Beckett said.

"I thought they couldn't know the details of the case," Castle said raising his brow.

"They can't. Look Castle, the less you know the better."

"Fine." Castle said not asking any more questions.

Beckett cracked a smile and mentally sighed in relief. "Let's go home. I'm just as tired as you are."

"Or you could come over to my place; I do make a mean lasagna."

"Go home Castle."

"Well you're missing out. One day I'll make it for you."

Beckett rolled her eyes at Castle and waved at him. "Bye Castle."

* * *

Beckett and Castle arrived at the 12th precinct together each with a cup of coffee talking to each other as normal.

"Hey, so we traced the number of the person who deposited the 1 million dollars to Tyrone. The deposit was made around one in the morning through a business transaction, but the business is not registered in the system," Ryan said.

"Okay. Find out where Tyrone's bank is and go through all the surveillance cameras. Try to find out who made the deposit," Kate said.

Ryan nodded and headed towards his desk. Kate swung her coat on the back of her chair and sat on it.

"So. Do Ryan and Espo know?" Castle asked.

"Know what?" Beckett said looking up at him.

"You know," Castle said leaning closer to her. "About the mystery friend."

Beckett straightened her back. "No Castle. He isn't a mystery because I'm not hiding him and it's not like anybody needs to. It'll be out little secret."

"I like the sound of that," Castle said smiling at her.

Beckett smiled back nervously and turned around to continue on with her work praying that he wouldn't ask any more questions.

"Hey. So I found out the bank that Tyrone uses based on the monthly payment to the landlord. There's something I want to show you on the surveillance cameras," Ryan said.

He led Beckett to the computer with the video on full screen and pressed play. "Look, that guy there is making the deposit, but he is avoiding all the cameras even when he is turning to walk out of the bank. I looked through all the previous footage from the rest of the month and there is the same guy in the bank almost every day, but he doesn't do anything. My guess is he was probably scoping all the locations of the cameras."

"Great. Run face recognition for this man and get guys to bring him in," Beckett said.

"On it," Ryan said.

* * *

Espo walked into the integration room with Beckett following behind him. She closed the door behind her and walked over to the table to face the guy. Her eyes scanned the man noticing every single feature he had on his face and body. He was a tall and slim guy, not particularly heavy built but was still capable of taking out a guy.

"Demetrius Jones. 32, working in…nowhere. So let me get this straight, you have no job yet you magically have thousands of dollars in your bank account?" Espo said.

Demetrius was silent.

"Let's cut to the chase shall we? We know what you did. We know you were the one who put 1 million dollars in Tyrone White's bank account. Did you know that he died the same day? Just tell us who hired you to deposit the money in Tyrone White's account," Beckett said.

Demetrius was silent again.

"You are facing murder charges right now, but you can turn around. You have no record and no motive so why don't you stop protecting whoever you're protecting and all this won't ever come up again. We also know you have a girlfriend that you love. What will she think when she finds out that you're a killer?" Beckett said with her fingers locked together.

"I;m not a killer. I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't kill him if that's what you're thinking, I promise," Demetrius finally said.

Beckett waited for him to say more but he didn't. "If you didn't kill him then who did? The person who hired you is the same person that killed Tyrone. Now are you really going to let that person get away while you're stuck in jail for life?"

"I didn't kill him. I don't know who did. The only contact made was through burner phones. I needed money and then somebody calls me out of the blue and tells me I could make money fast," Demetrius said.

"Well what did the person sound like? Male or female? Can you tell what age the person was? Any particular accent?" Beckett said getting frustrated.

"Um. Definitely male, maybe around 50? I think he was American, no accent."

Beckett stopped for a moment to write the things he said down.

All I had to do was to make a deposit in someone's account when I was signaled to do so. It was easy money and an easy job, win win right?" Demetrius said getting nervous.

"This already sounds shady. And you didn't ask any questions?" Espo said.

"I did, but he didn't tell me much. He told me this Tyrone was also paid to do something for him too. I don't remember, but I think he had to put a hit out on someone and all I had to do was to wait until Tyrone finished the job and then make the deposit. Simple," Demetrius said.

"Wait why did you need money?" Beckett suddenly said.

"Drugs, but it was only a one time thing. I won't do it again I promise. Don't tell anyone," Demetrius said.

Espo held in a laugh. "One time my ass," he whispered to Beckett.

"We're done here and I've got an idea on why he was killed," Beckett said to Espo standing up.

"Wait. After I deposited the money, he called me again and said he was watching me and if I told anyone, he would kill me and my girlfriend," Demetrius said looking up at Beckett and Espo.

Beckett sighed. "Alright, you'll have two officers around you at your door until we catch the killer."

* * *

After Beckett and Espo were out of the room, Ryan and Castle ran towards them.

"So? What do you think happened?" Ryan said.

"Both Tyrone and Demetrius were hired; both were in debt because of drugs. Whoever this person is is rich and has a lot of drugs to sell. Both were hired to do something for him and clearly Demetrius had the easy job. A rich guy who doesn't like to get his hands dirty," Beckett said.

"So this rich guy hires Tyrone to kill someone for him. But that doesn't tell us who killed him," Ryan said confused.

"Either this guy hired other man to kill Tyrone afterwards to shut him up or-," Beckett said.

"Someone killed Tyrone for revenge," Beckett and Castle finished off together.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Thank you guys so much for sticking with me all this time. Sorry I haven't been updating for a long time, but I had to write a story for my English class and it took a lot of time. **_

_**theputz913**__**: Thank you for reminding me about that part of the story. I was originally going to clarify some of this stuff in chapter 2, but I must have forgotten. I will get right on to that. **_

_**Spitfire303**__**: Thank you so much for reading this fanfiction, you beautiful soul. TaShawn is not involved in the murder. I wanted there to be one good guy in the story. **_

_**And to everyone else that continues to read this, bless you. Hope you enjoy reading this chapter! Again, please review :)**_

* * *

It was six in the morning when the phone that laid on the table besides Beckett rang. Beckett rolled over and reached for the phone.

"Hello?" Beckett muttered, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Hey it's me. Well I took the liberty to cross reference anyone who was an infamous drug dealer, male, around 50s, white and I came around this person. His name is Maury Gunns, but he goes by Mazarae. He's been busted a couple times, but he always got bailed out. He doesn't like to get his hands dirty, so there is never enough evidence for anyone to catch him," Ryan said through the phone to Beckett.

"Okay. Try to dig up some more evidence that leads Maury to the murder. We can't go after him without any solid proof," Beckett said.

"Oh yeah, don't bother coming to the precinct today. I was just there. The lights just went out and it won't be back on until tomorrow," Ryan said.

"Alright, thanks for the warning," Beckett said sighing. She ended the call and checked the time. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out.

* * *

Beckett woke up at nine in the morning again. The first thing she did was check her phone to see if Ryan called to report any evidence, but he didn't. She jumped off her bed to catch a shower before having to head over to Espo's house to review the case again. She was getting frustrated because everything seemed to lead to nothing. They were still at square one on the case.

She came out of her bathroom exactly 30 minutes later with a towel wrapped on her and another against her damp hair. She walked to her kitchen and stopped by the fridge trying to remember if there was still anything left to eat. She eyed around the almost empty space inside her fridge and settled for a yogurt. She sat herself down on the sofa and tied the towel around her head. Then she noticed a thick yellow packet on the new table. She plucked off a post-it off the packet.

_I was surprised to see that I didn't wake you up._

_You still look good even when you're sleeping_

She smiled and shook her head knowing immediately who the package was from. She opened it and the first thing she pulled out was pictures of Tyrone leaning over towards the opened window of a car. The face of the person Tyrone was talking to wasn't clear, but she knew that the photos could get touched up if she brought it to the precinct. If she could somehow manage to come up with an excuse on how she got all this information. She frowned wondering where TaShawn got all these photos from. The next couple of sheets were personal files of all the guys she interrogated and another man. The name of the man caught her eye. Maury Gunns. Everything started to piece together in her mind. She knew exactly what was going on. She scrambled to get her phone in her room and then stopped mid-way. She had to come up with a plan first. A name popped up in her head, _Castle_. She hit speed dial and took a deep breath.

"Hey Castle," Beckett said.

"What's up? Missing me already?" Castle said.

Beckett could hear him smiling through the phone and she could help but to smile with him. "Um… can you stop by my apartment? I need to talk to you about something," Beckett said getting serious.

"Yeah. I'll be there," Castle said.

It took Castle 47 minutes to arrive at her apartment door. She opened the door and gestured for him to come in. Castle observed around her small, but cozy apartment.

"So, what did you need to tell me?" Castle said finally.

"I- sit please" Beckett said. "I wanted to talk to you about TaShawn."

"What about him? Look, if you're in a relationship with that guy, you don't -," Castle said before getting cut off by Beckett.

"No. It's not that. I lied about TaShawn. He isn't just a friend. This is a long story, but I need you to trust me and keep what I tell you a secret. Okay?" Beckett said looking Castle straight in his eye.

Castle nodded sensing the tension in the air.

"TaShawn is the one who saved me when I almost got shot. He tried to save Montgomery too, but he couldn't. For whatever reason, he trusted TaShawn. After that, TaShawn tried to help me solve my mother's case. I haven't seen TaShawn since then and I thought I would never see him again. But he appeared to me and he told me that one of his men had gone missing and I knew I owed him from the last time he helped me-," Beckett said.

"Wait…HIS men? What does he do?" Castle said furiously, this time cutting Beckett off.

"He's a drug dealer," Beckett said hesitating.

Castle gave her a look. "Why did Montgomery trust him? And since why did you trust Montgomery?"

"Castle, Montgomery didn't lie to me, well, not the way that you think he did. He was trying to protect me form the people that killed my mom," Beckett said, trying to hold in her emotions.

Castle tried to argue with her, but Beckett cut in. "Let me finish first okay?"

Castle nodded.

"The name of the man that got killed is Tyrone White which is the same exact man that TaShawn wanted me to find. Ever since then, I've been working on the case with the NYPD and with TaShawn," Beckett finished.

Castle nodded again slowly. "So that's all you wanted to tell me?"

Beckett couldn't tell if Castle was annoyed or not. "No. This morning I found this package on my table. TaShawn left it for me. In there are photos of a man arguing with Tyrone the day he died which makes him a suspect. There's also a file in there of a man named Maury Gunns. This morning Ryan called me and told me that he found a match on Demetrius' description. It was the same man Maury Gunns. Don't you see it? Maury Gunns is the one who hired Tyrone to put a hit on someone for one million dollars. Demetrius then deposits the money into Tyrone's bank account. Only, someone finds out what Tyrone did and got revenge. This is it Castle! We solved the case!" Beckett said, pushing the files to Castle.

Castle looked through the files analyzing everything. "If you solved the case, then that means TaShawn would have too. What if he goes out to kill Maury?"

"He wouldn't. That's why TaShawn gave me the files. He wanted me to figure this out myself and catch Maury using this information," Beckett said, remembering the time that TaShawn came over and almost destroyed her apartment.

"Doesn't that mean we got ourselves two killers? Maury and the other guy that got revenge," Castle said.

"And him too," Beckett agreed.

"The case is solved, but how are we going to explain how you got this?"

"That's part of why I called you. You're the writer; you can come up with something clever," Beckett said.

"I like it already, "Castle said, winking at her.

_**Sorry if this chapter was confusing. I'll try to explain some more in the next chapter. I've been having writer's block all week, hence the super long delay (other than writing my story for English class). Tell me what you think about this chapter. Also, I'm not sure when this story is going to end. Do you guys want me to end it quickly or tear it out slowly? **_


	7. Chapter 7

_**I wasn't sure if you guys liked the last chapter or not, but I hope this one will be better. I've been having major writer's block lately. Reviews are highly appreciated. :) **_

_** Spitfire: Thanks for the review! I'll think of some way to include TaShawn in the murder. **_

_**Also I'm forcing myself on a schedule. New updates every Saturday/Sunday. **_

_**Note**__**: Part of the flashback scene in this chapter is in Castle 3x24 "Knockout." I take no credit for writing any of the scenes nor do I own those characters. **_

Kate felt so much better after telling Castle everything. She sat down facing the evidence and began to reread through everything once more to find out who Tyrone could have possibly killed for money. She remembered TaShawn's words about how Tyrone would never hurt anyone and in some way, Kate trusted him.

After studying the files for hours, her eyes started to feel sore. She still didn't have any leads. She reached for phone wanting to call TaShawn, but realized that he didn't have a phone. She groaned. _Where the hell is TaShawn? _The only way that she was going to solve this case was to bring Maury in for questioning, but she knew it was going to be hard. She glanced at the clock; it was already two in the afternoon. She laid everything out in order before grabbing her coat and heading out for lunch.

She came back an hour and a half later having gone eating and done a little bit of shopping. She set the bag next to the closed door. As she took off her coat, her nose scrunched at the smell of fried food and oils lingering on her body. She sped through her living room and into the bathroom for another shower. She came out feeling fresh and smelling like cherries. She was dressed and had blow-dried her hair. She stepped into her bedroom and rested on the bed.

"_Who killed her?" Kate said. "Give me a name. You owe me that Roy."_

"_If I gave you a name you will run straight at him. I might as well shot you right now," Montgomery said shaking his head. _

"_Isn't that why you brought me here? To kill me?" Kate said stepping up to him. _

"_No, I brought you here to lure them," Montgomery said. _

"_You baited them?" Beckett said confused. _

_Montgomery looked out to see a pair of flashlights beaming close to them. "And now they're coming. I need you to leave. They're coming to kill you, but I'm going to let them. I'm going to end this," Montgomery said shifting his gun in his hand. _

"_I not going anywhere sir," Kate said softly. _

"_Yes, you are," Montgomery said. "TaShawn, get her out of her now!" _

_Kate turned around to see TaShawn approaching her. She looked at him in disbelief. _

"_Capt-," TaShawn said._

"_No. I brought you here for a reason. You're going to listen to me," Montgomery said cutting TaShawn off. _

"_Captain please. Just listen to me. You don't have to do this. SIR, I forgive you. I forgive you," Kate whispered, facing him. _

"_This is my spot. This is where I stand," Montgomery said. _

_TaShawn tugged at Kate's sleeve. "C'mon."_

_Kate pulled away. "No," she shouted at TaShawn. _

_She looked at the group of people who were now coming in on them. "Sir, listen to me. You don't have to do this," she said again, looking desperately into Montgomery's eyes. _

_Montgomery and TaShawn glanced at the black car that was coming near them. They were, for a split second, blinded by the brightness of the headlights. _

"_TaShawn, GET HER OUT OF HERE NOW!"Montgomery said glaring at TaShawn._

"_You don't have to do this! Sir, listen to me. You don't have to do this," Kate said. _

_TaShawn lifted Kate up and carried her out._

"_Please! NO! God TaShawn LET GO!" Kate said, frantically kicking her legs. "PLEASE! NO!" She scratched at the arm that held her waist. Her cries echoed through the open air. _

_TaShawn pulled open a door hiding in the back of the room. He held Kate down while the sounds of guns went off. Kate struggled to push TaShawn off. As the last two shots were fired, she shoved him away. She ran towards the sound only to find Montgomery and Hal Lockwood laying there next to each other._

"_No," Kate whispered, letting the tears flow out of her eyes. She kneeled besides Montgomery and held his face. _

Kate woke up with tears on her cheeks and sweat forming on her forehead. She breathed in heavily, trying to catch her breath. She felt as if this had all happened just yesterday. The case was bringing back the memories she had wanted to forget. She shook her hair out of her face that was now sticking to the sweat. Having this flashback somehow made her more eager to solve the case.

She walked into the living room looking at the table where she had laid out all the files. The sun was starting to set and only a dim light hit the floor. It was gone. It was all gone. Everything. She ran to hit the light switch. Words were scratched on the table that read "Stop looking. M" She reached for her phone to call Castle.

"Hello?" Castle said through the phone.

"Someone broke in. They took all the files. Everything is gone Castle. All the proof that links Maury to the murder is gone," Kate said.

"Oh my god. Are you alright?" Castle said.

"It's not me Castle! It's the files!" Kate said frustrated.

"When and how did they steal it?"

"I'm not sure. I went outside to grab lunch, took a shower, and then fell asleep afterwards. He could have stolen it any time in between. I should have checked it when I came back home. Damn it!"

"Do you want to call the precinct?"

"And what do I tell them?"

"Just say Maury Gunns, the man that Ryan warned you about, wanted you to stop digging around so he sent a message to you."

"Castle. That's not going to work." Kate said sighing loudly. "How are we going to get the evidence now? I don't know where the hell TaShawn is."

It took Kate a second to realize what was going on. "Shit!" she said.

"What happened?" Castle said through the phone. She could hear him moving around in his house.

"If Maury knew about the files, then he must know about TaShawn. Why the hell didn't I notice this before? Look Castle, I'm going out to find TaShawn. I'll call you later if I find anything," Beckett said.

"Wait. I'll come with you," Castle said.

"No. I'll see you tomorrow." Kate grabbed her coat and headed out the door. She remembered he told her that he was hiding out in some apartment in Bedford, Brooklyn, but she wasn't sure if he still lived there. She grabbed a taxi to get to his apartment, 9F.

Afraid of raising suspicion, she opted to pick the lock careful that no one was in the hallways. She opened the door to the surprise that the whole apartment was trashed. She stepped over piles of garbage. Tables were turned over and she was pretty sure anything made of glass was broken. She walked over the apartment checking for and fresh blood or bullet holes on the floor- there were none. She found an article that he printed out last week. It was the article on Tyrone's case.

She went back to her apartment and by that time, the sky had already gone dark. So many things happened today and she was looking forward to getting back to the precinct. As was going to open her front door, she realized that the door had been busted open. She reached for her gun in her coat pocket and carefully stepped in.

It was TaShawn. He was sitting down with his hands pressed against his mouth.

"TaShawn? Where the hell were you?" Kate said, lowering her gun.

TaShawn jumped up from his seat and sighed in relief when he saw Kate. "I should be asking you that. I've been waiting for you for two hours!"

Kate went right into point. "Look. The package you left me this morning is gone. Maury must have hired someone to take it. I thought you were in trouble so I went to your apartment in Brooklyn to warn you."

"Wait, you went to my apartment? Fuck Kate! That's where I did all my research. Everyone that hates me has eyes on that apartment," TaShawn said frustrated.

"And now they know that I'm with you," Kate said, finishing his sentence.

"That's not the problem right now. I can fix that. Maury is on to us. If I try to dig up those pervious files again, he'll kill me for sure," TaShawn said.

"I know. I'll figure something out with Castle," Kate said, before she could stop herself.

"Who's Castle?" TaShawn said, raising his eyebrows.

"He's not a cop, he's a writer. I told him everything when I found your package. He's going to help me catch Maury and the person who killed Tyrone."

TaShawn gave her a disapproving look.

"I trust him," she said.

"I don't even know why I gave you those file. If I had handled it myself, Maury would have already been dead and I would have already dealt with the guy that killed Tyrone," TaShawn said.

Kate searched for words that would somehow make him feel better, but she couldn't. "We'll find him, I promise."

"I know," he said, giving her a smile.


End file.
